One Shared House – Co-living

When she was 5 years old Irene Pereyra’s mom answered an ad: “Community looking for parent with 5 year old child”. There is where Irene’s interest and commitment to co-living began. Her interactive documentary is informative and the survey might open your mind to what you might and might not be willing to share.

I found the website One Shared House not only rich in Irene Pereyra’s first person experience, it’s informative about the history of a uniquely Dutch approach to the housing shortage in the 1980s.

Irene Pereyra was born in Lima Peru. When her mother brought her back to Amsterdam there were no affordable places to be had except way out in the suburbs away from the city centre culture. When Irene was 5 years old her mother was reading a progressive magazine and saw an ad:

“Community looking for parent with 5 year old child”

… Irene and her mom moved in.

Although the community started off very idealistic and practical it soon became obvious that common conflicts between even the best of friends were arising.

Being from a communal background myself I was not surprised at the conflicts. What surprised me and warmed my heart is that through all of the squabbling and conflict between adults

Co-living is the term for a living arrangement in which three or more biologically unrelated people share a common residential structure.

Modern co-living originated in Denmark in the 1960s. Bodil Graae wrote a newspaper article in 1967 that questioned the structure of the traditional family unit. The article inspired a group of families to develop the Sættedammen co-living project in 1972. The Danish term Bofællesskab (“living community”) was introduced to North America by Kathryn Mccamant And Charles Durrett in their 1989 book Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves.

The current co-living resurgence began in San Francisco with “Hacker Mansions,” veritable startup factories outfitted with bunk beds. Today, companies like Common, Founder House, Krash, And Welive offer fully furnished apartments in New York City with shared kitchens, bathrooms, and common areas. The New Yorker devoted an entire article to the rise of co-living startups in May 2016.